Yahoo Question: How do you know when to ASK for forgiveness ?

[Christine]

My answer:


Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
If you are referring to asking God to forgive you for an ongoing sin, He already HAS DONE THAT. ALL your sins were future when Jesus died for them 2000 yrs ago. He already KNEW you would have this difficulty, and if you trusted His death, burial and resurrection on the Cross to reconcile you to God, then you ARE forgiven.

We don't ASK to BE forgiven, we BELIEVE that God means what He says when He tells us we are already forgiven and it happened when we weren't even asking. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He didn't wait for us to clean up our act BEFORE saving us, and He isn't coming BACK to die for any sins that might have been "LEFT OUT".

Think about this. If ONE sin was left out, then Jesus would NOT have risen from the dead. His resurrection is proof positive that God ACCEPTED His payment IN FULL, just like the Bible tells us, ONCE and for ALL sins for all time.

Being sorry isn't a criteria either. If you want to walk in the Spirit instead of in the flesh, you will CHOOSE, because He gives you the Power to do so, and because sin is just plain stupid (Im not judging you here, but asking you to simply believe truth) NOT to do that which you know is something God has made clear not to be for your best.

All christians still sin! The issue isn't becoming sinless, but that we learn more of Gods GRACE and we WILL sin LESS.

God is not judging anyone on the basis of their sins today. Jesus took all the punishment for all the sins of the world on the Cross. His burial insures that those sins are "put out of Gods sight forever." God no longer sees you in your flesh, but in the SPIRIT and as a member of the Body of Christ.

You ARE complete in Him. GRACE is what motivates us to live godly lives, the book of Titus tells us....NOT thinking that God is standing over us with a stick to smack us every time we sin.

I am not advocating a license to sin...we seem to do quite well without one, but that you adopt a biblical mindset and see Gods viewpoint of you, and sin, and the FACT that you ARE forgiven already, and simply thank Him for already having DIED for that sin. Say it outloud so you are reminded of what placed Him on that Cross two thousand years ago. The next time you are tempted to do the same thing will be more difficult to follow thru. We learn alot of things thru habit...and it takes an effort of your WILL to change habits.

We are to allow Christ to live HIS Life in and thru us. That means we step aside when we KNOW its something not of Him, as you take Him with you into whatever sin you are engaging. Sin won't seem so much FUN< when you realize He is having to sit there with you and watch.

Its called learning to walk in the Spirit, and it comes only by practice. God is trying to grow you up in GRACE....won't you allow Him access to all of your life? I pray you will.

[MaricoG]

Oh my...are we to confess our sins to God when we sin?  As I read the above, I started to search, and I cannot find that except in 1John 1:9...which looks like an ultimatum...that if we confess our sin, THEN God will forgive us, rather than believing on what Jesus did for us on the cross, taking the punishment for all our sin.

So, if we don't ask for forgiveness, because it has already been given for the future sin, and we don't tell God we are sorry for that sin, since He does not even see it, since Christ took care of it on the cross, and we don't feel sorry when we do sin and tell God so, again, because it is as if it does not exist since we are in Christ....what do we do when we sin?

[Christine]

t

Oh my...are we to confess our sins to God when we sin?  As I read the above, I started to search, and I cannot find that except in 1John 1:9...which looks like an ultimatum...that if we confess our sin, THEN God will forgive us, rather than believing on what Jesus did for us on the cross, taking the punishment for all our sin.

So, if we don't ask for forgiveness, because it has already been given for the future sin, and we don't tell God we are sorry for that sin, since He does not even see it, since Christ took care of it on the cross, and we don't feel sorry when we do sin and tell God so, again, because it is as if it does not exist since we are in Christ....what do we do when we sin?

Hi there Mari...first, let me explain the "yahoo questions"...these are questions asked on YAHOO , usually by UNBELIEVERS or by those  who   are not studied in what the scriptures have to say. They aren't MY questions, but my ANSWERS.

You are correct! 1 Jn. 1:9 is indeed in the Bible, but the address tells us to whom it is addressed and there we have its reason for being there. Israel was told to confess her sin of UNBELIEF to God, and in THIS context is how we are to understand it.

As WE know, being GRACE believers, confessing and being sorry for sin is NOT what forgives us at ALL, but the finished work of Christ on the Cross.

There is nothing wrong with feeling sorry when we sin, OR confessing it for that matter, but we as grace believers do not do so in ORDER TO BE FORGIVEN...Christ has already DONE that.

Biblically , we are to thank God that this is one of those sins He died for and that He HAS reconciled us to Himself ....use those times as a time to rejoice in Gods GRACE and His solution for sin.

Don't you just hate it when you see Christians focused on their SIN , rather than on who they are IN CHRIST? The majority of believers today are more concerned with their sin than they are in trusting God to do what He says He did. See Galatians 2:20

Should we ignore the fact that we still sin? No. Why? Because I can assure you that others won't...LOL. We need to make sure when we do blow it, and we will, that we are not slack to admit that while we may be COMPLETE in Him, we are still in these human bodies and often do and say things that we shouldn't. Its called the process of growing. I think God was somewhat wise in leaving us in these bodies, as we are continually reminded from whence He saved us and dependent on His GRACE and very LIFE to manifest to others.

We have a new identity..as we operate IN that identity, WE don't change, but He is able to manifest His life in and thru us as we get out of the way and allow Him full access.

Thats kind of a thumbnail sketch of how I see it from the scriptures. What do you think?

[MaricoG]

Biblically , we are to thank God that this is one of those sins He died for and that He HAS reconciled us to Himself ....use those times as a time to rejoice in Gods GRACE and His solution for sin.

Don't you just hate it when you see Christians focused on their SIN , rather than on who they are IN CHRIST? The majority of believers today are more concerned with their sin than they are in trusting God to do what He says He did. See Galatians 2:20

Being a brand new grace believer...I am learning how deep and how far into so many areas of belief, the grace gospel goes...and the above is new for me.  I was brought up Catholic to the marrow of my bones, so I do understand about confessing our sins...then when I became a Christian, I was still taught that we must still confess our sins, just not to a priest, but directly to God.  Now...as a grace believer, I am seeing the mechanics differenty.  I see that talking to God about our sin, feeling the sorrow of that sin, and thanking God for giving us forgiveness, has a totally different dynamic...I have to think about this awhile to see how to appropriate this infiormation.

Should we ignore the fact that we still sin? No. Why? Because I can assure you that others won't...LOL. We need to make sure when we do blow it, and we will, that we are not slack to admit that while we may be COMPLETE in Him, we are still in these human bodies and often do and say things that we shouldn't. Its called the process of growing. I think God was somewhat wise in leaving us in these bodies, as we are continually reminded from whence He saved us and dependent on His GRACE and very LIFE to manifest to others.

What a beautiful paragraph! Yes, I can sure see that.

We have a new identity..as we operate IN that identity, WE don't change, but He is able to manifest His life in and thru us as we get out of the way and allow Him full access.

Thats kind of a thumbnail sketch of how I see it from the scriptures. What do you think?

I think I want to appropriate this understanding fully into my life.  Thanks Christine!